I've been thinking and trying different quill to threadless adapters and here is my list. am I missing any adapters or important criteria?
Criteria are:
– Secure retention of stem clamp area eg knurling or good machining
– One piece 1⅛" model available – no creaky slippy shims
– Minimal transition area to let the stem be slammed to the headset if desired
– choice of lengths
– choice of colours
My ranking:
1. Nitto MTC Quill Stem Adapter knurled, one piece, machined step down not gradient, available in different lengths and black or silver. Hard to find https://www.rivbike.com/products/nitto-mtc-quill-for-threadless-stem
1. Origin8 Quill Adapter – one piece, step down not gradient, available in different lengths and black or silver, not on sale in Europe (photo)
1. VO Threadless Stem Adapter – one piece, elegant gradient if used high, high polish silver https://velo-orange.com/products/vo-threadless-stem-adaptor
1. Ergotec or Deda Spada shimmed adapters – need shim for 1⅛" stems, no gradient, black, good build quality. https://dedaelementi.com/spada-stem-adapter
1. Any Amazon/Ali algorithmically generated rolled COFVEVE quill adapter, painted, big gradient, insecure stem grip
I'm interested to hear if the machined step on the Origin8 has led to any failures in the community. I like how I can run it slammed to take advantage of the tall Marin head tube. The stem I have on at the moment looks a bit butch but I'll find another shortly.
I've also tried the VO faceplate stem, which is a great solution if you need the extra front end height and can make its svelte dimensions work with your stem/bars, but at 180mm it always builds tall.
by wstephenson
9 Comments
I will forever hate quill stem adapters. They look awful and you end up with the worst of both worlds. Given that 1″ threadless as well as 31.8 quill stems exist, I don’t see a reason to ever use one.
Get an [https://www.innicycle.com/](https://www.innicycle.com/) conversion headset if you absolutely must go this route. It’s the most elegant solution
Two other factors that led me to land on the Origin8 are that it’s cheap and surprisingly light, if you care about that stuff.
I have the VO one and it’s great. I don’t understand all the hate for quill adapters, I think they look fine. Really, they’re hard to notice unless you’re looking very close.
I just fired up the welder and made one. Pretty simple
There are a plethora of cheap quill stems on eBay. Adapters are so ugly. You can get new quills too, riv and magic components make very cool ones.
Thanks for this.
this post is worthless without purchased price and weight, I mean ..
Throwing [Demension’s](https://dimensionbikeproducts.com/products/steerer-adaptor) hat into the ring, same elegance as the VO one but only comes in black.
Profile Designs makes a good one. Similar to VO but has a more angular transition compared to the curved flare of the VO. I believe it is pretty much invisible when slammed.